Fred Hoiberg talks rev share, NIL amid shifting college sports landscape

Finally, a settlement. That was likely what Nebraska men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg — and just about everyone else in his position — was thinking when California judge Claudia Wilken approved the $2.8 billion House vs. NCAA settlement, which allows colleges to pay its student-athletes.

Hoiberg dove into the topic of revenue sharing and name, image and likeness deals, as well as what he knows and doesn’t know, Wednesday at a press conference inside Devaney Sports Center.

“I’ll say this, there’s a lot of unanswered questions as this thing will progress,” Hoiberg said. “I’m glad it happened. I’m glad that the case was finally settled, and now we can move on with our lives, at least for the rules that we’ve heard.”

Hoiberg and the other Big Ten coaches recently had league meetings in Los Angeles, where they got to talk with commissioner Tony Petitti about how revenue sharing and NIL will look. On top of that, Hoiberg has had several talks with his own athletic director, Troy Dannen, as well as other athletic department leaders about what to expect.

“From everything we understand, revenue sharing is going to be the main source (income) for these guys now,” Hoiberg said. “The true NIL deals are going to have to go through the clearinghouse that’s run by a very reputable company with Deloitte. We’ll see how that all plays out on what a fair market value is for somebody to be approved an NIL deal.”

Deloitte is the independent NIL clearinghouse that will review third-party NIL deals exceeding $600.

“Until we see a deal that’s rejected, which I don’t think that’s happened yet, (we don’t know) what exactly the parameters are within an NIL deal getting approved,” Hoiberg said. “So, still a lot of things I think to play out in this regard, but I am happy at least that, the way we understand it right now, there’s going to be some guardrails in place.”

Now, Hoiberg said, it’s about doing the best job he and his staff possibly can while staying within the newly-formed rules and operating with what he’s considering a “set salary cap” when rev share begins July 1.

It’s not yet known how Dannen and Nebraska’s athletic department plan to share the $20.5 million that will be available for its teams.

“We’re in constant communication on it,” Hoiberg said, “and we’re going to do the best job we can in this new landscape.”

Hoiberg said none of his players have approached him about rev shar or NIL. Most of the players already have representation, and for those who don’t, the coaches will have those conversations “when the time is right.”

“They are getting educated on that,” Hoiberg said. “We have people within our athletic department that do help them with the education process and the education piece as we go into this new era of college athletics. …Our roster is set this year, everybody has what they’re going to get, and then we’ll worry about the future when it comes.”